Monday is Must Try Mondays where you can link up your favorite recipes. Tuesdays, I co host Handmade Tuesdays with Ladybug Blessings, where you can stop by and link up crafts, tutorials, recipes, home decor, just about anything! I hope you’ll take time to visit-the more the merrier.

About a year and a half ago, I started menu planning. I had been doing it off and on for a few years, but nothing as committed as what I am doing now. The part that amazes me about it is how much simpler it makes my life. As moms, wives, and busy women, we have a lot on our plate. Just the simple process of menu planning has lessened my “stress” and has allowed me to be ready for meals, feed my family in a timely fashion, and be prepared.

So, how do I menu plan? I have moved from a pen and paper list to something a little more technology based-Google Calendar and Pinterest.

First, you need a Gmail account to start using Google Calendar. At the top of your Gmail tool bar you’ll find “Calendar” next to “Documents”. I first open up my Google Calendar and think about what we have going on during the upcoming week. I fill in “Sundays” with {Pizza Night}, and from there I decide what nights will be crock pot, grill, or “leftover” nights. Next, using tabbed browsing, I open up my Pinterest account. I start with my Chicken Dishes Board, and choose a dish from there, adding it to Google Calendar and also any ingredients I need to my grocery list. I continue through my boards, choosing sides, breads, etc. and fill in our calendar accordingly.

As I enter dishes into Google Calendar, I can set them to repeat. So, if I know it’s a dish we like, or a new one I’m certain my family will like, I repeat it. To do so, I click on Edit Event and a box pops up. Then, I choose which day of the week to repeat the dish on, and set it to repeat every two weeks.

Voila! It’ll show up again two weeks later, and my menu for that week is partially complete. Don’t want to make that dish again or something comes up? Not to worry, I just edit it. Since you’ve planned your menu in Google Calendar, you will receive an email reminder for that day’s happenings. You can set this to remind you when you are entering your menu.

I set mine for ONE DAY reminder. That way, if I need to thaw any meat or pick up something for that dish, I can do so. When using Pinterest to menu plan, I have organized my boards into food types. I used to have one big food board, but I had so many pins on it, repins, and dishes I knew weren’t going to realistically happen. So, I took some time to rearrange these recipes by type. It makes it super easy to plan meals when I can look by type, instead of for a particular dish. When it’s all done, I stand in my kitchen with my Google Calendar and write my menu on my fun chalkboard menu board.